ITEM CA11 CABINET – 20 MARCH 2007 HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME 2007/08 Report by Head of Transport Introduction 1. This report lists the proposed expenditure on highway maintenance activities programmed for 2007/08 from both the capital and revenue budgets. 2. The available revenue budget of £18,701,459 consists of the agreed base revenue budget, plus a standard inflation allowance of 2%, an additional contract inflation allowance of 1% and an ongoing 2004/05 Policy and Budget Plan allowance for the revenue implications of Capital Schemes. In addition there is funding to cover increased energy costs identified within the 2006/07 non-discretionary budget pressures, and £300,000 discretionary funding towards ‘Cleaner Greener’ initiatives that was subsequently allocated. 3. Offsetting these increases to the base budget are the agreed reductions to meet the Efficiency Savings and Budget Pressures. At the end of January 2007 there is forecast revenue underspend within Highways Management of £50k from Bridges Maintenance, due to high river levels, and £20k from Business Process Re-engineering. It is planned to carry these funds forward to 2007/08 to help pay for the completion of this work. 4. A summary of the 2007/08 and 2006/07 Highways Maintenance Revenue Budgets is set out in Annex 1 (download as .doc file). 5. The structural maintenance capital budget is £14,521,000, from the agreed Transport element of the Supported Capital Expenditure (Revenue) (SCE(R)) for 2007/08. This figure will remain provisional until final confirmation of the capital programme which is subject to another report at this meeting. 6.
It should be noted that the 2007/08 structural maintenance
capital budget is significantly less than in recent years, and £1.7 million
less than last year. This is due to a change in the Local Transport Plan
rules (LTP). Although Local Authorities still receive an annual amount
based on formula funding, we can no longer bid specifically for additional
capital funds to carry out structural maintenance on recently detrunked
roads. Essentially, this work must be funded in future from the general
structural maintenance capital allocation. The Council does currently
receive a revenue grant towards routine maintenance costs on detrunked
roads, but from next year this is likely to be assimilated into the Formula
Spending Share formula that is based on road lengths. And this may not
necessarily reflect the true revenue cost of carrying out routine maintenance
on these busy routes. Energy Costs 7. Energy costs are set on an annual basis because they are subject to significant fluctuations. In 2006/07 there was rise in prices amounting to £550,000. Market predictions indicated an additional £350,000 would be required this year, and so this amount was added to the Highway Maintenance base budget for 2007/08 as a funded pressure. Insurance Premiums 8. The County Council robustly defends highway compensation claims, and is generally successful. The number of insurance claims this year was similar to 2005/06 and insurance premiums remain largely unchanged. Asset Management 9. The total highway maintenance budget for 2007/08 is £34.8 million (£14.5m capital and £20.3m revenue, including detrunking grant). This figure must be taken in context. The annual expenditure on highway maintenance amounts to only 2% of the overall asset value. In 2007/08 we will carry out planned maintenance schemes on only 0.3% of our carriageway length and 0.8% of our footway network. 10. The total allocation in 2007/08 for all types of structural maintenance carriageway and footway repairs is approximately £16 million. Calculations show that we consistently require another £5 million of investment annually to return the road network to a satisfactory condition during the next 10 years. 11. The balance of revenue allocations in the budget for routine and cyclic maintenance has been adjusted to better reflect the different conditions and demands in the North and South of the County. Studies reveal for example that the condition of local roads in the South leads to their costing more in reactive maintenance than roads in the North. As more work is carried out to formalise asset management the more budgets are being refined and the more tailored the service will become to meet local demands. 12. A Transport Asset Management Plan is currently being developed that will describe the maintenance strategy in greater detail. A summary of the 2007/08 Highway Maintenance Budget is contained in Annex 2 (download as .doc file). Service Priority for Local Roads and Pavements 13. The available budget has been prioritised to support the County Council’s objective to improve the condition of local roads and pavements while at the same time holding the condition of principal roads at their present acceptable level. Consequently, non-principal roads will receive a greater proportion of the assessed schemes structural maintenance budget in future. This approach should also impact positively on the CPA score for highways. A significant proportion of the structural maintenance budget is spent on surface dressing, as it provides a relatively cost effective means of preserving the structural integrity of highways. The process also improves surface texture and impacts directly on the LTP target of reducing the number of injury accidents on our roads. As with the current year, the 2007/08 surface dressing allocation includes £1.1 million specifically for safety-type schemes. Efficiency Savings 14. The surface dressing contract is currently being revised and re-tendered, with the potential for substantial economies. Early indications point to between 15 and 20% cost savings being realised, although this has yet to be confirmed. Overall, this should contribute significantly to delivering against the 3% efficiency savings target for 2007/08. Other efficiencies are being identified through the Oxfordshire Highways Business Process Re-engineering programme (BPR). Although we will continue to refine our working arrangements, the formal BPR programme will conclude during 2007/08. The Effects of Climate Change 15. Weather patterns appear to be changing as a result of global warming, to the detriment of the highway network in Oxfordshire. During the summer of 2003, the near drought conditions caused substantial clay shrinkage that resulted in over £3.5 million of damage. This year, the extreme summer temperatures caused road surfaces across the County to melt, causing another £3 million of damage. £500k was subsequently provided from County Council Emergency funds for urgent re-surfacing and carriageway re-texturing, and although the worst sites have now been treated, they remain susceptible to further heat damage. 16. Rainfall is also becoming more intense and flooding more prevalent as drainage systems struggle to cope with excessive volumes of water. Problems are compounded by surface water that runs-off adjoining land. Sustainability 17.
Opportunities
for making more efficient use of resources have been identified through
Business Process Re-engineering, and working co-operatively through the
Oxfordshire Highways partnership. The amount of recycled materials used
is increasing annually, and includes aggregates that are reprocessed using
Oxfordshire Highways’ own facilities. Changes to working practices have
enabled our contractors to reduce their carbon footprint by programming
work more efficiently, and deploying less plant. Considerable effort is
also taken at the planning, co-ordination and implementation stages of
schemes to reduce delays at roadworks. We also recycle lighting apparatus
where feasible, and are planning to increase the use of energy efficient
elements in electrical apparatus including street lighting and illuminated
signs. Principal Roads (‘A’ roads) 18. The County Council maintains over 650 kilometres of Principal Roads, including a number of recently detrunked roads that have an important strategic function and carry high volumes of commercial and other traffic. 19. The condition prediction model based on surveys of road strength shows that funding in future years will need to be carefully balanced to keep principal roads at the optimum of 6 – 8% of roads requiring strengthening at any time. 20. High profile Principal Road schemes programmed for 2007/08 include the continuation of the A420 High Street strengthening and enhancement works. Strengthening of the carriageway along St Aldates between Carfax and Speedwell Street is also proposed. The final phase of repairs to A420 Shrivenham Bypass will take place during the summer months. Project appraisals for structural maintenance schemes in excess of £1m are included in Annex 5 to this report. Overview of Non-Principal Road Condition 21. The condition of Non-Principal roads has been improved in recent years by directing more of the maintenance budget to carriageway works. This has been possible because the County Council has been very successful in recent years in obtaining funds for structural maintenance through the LTP. We have also built up a better knowledge of the condition of our roads and this has been used successfully in targeting treatments to best effect. 22. However, the total amount of repairs justified by assessment continues to be very high. The County Council has responsibility for maintaining over 3,800 kilometres of non-principal roads and, with the exception of urgent/safety type repairs, most of the minor rural roads and urban estate roads are receiving little or no structural or preventative maintenance. Over 90% of the overall maintenance backlog is attributable to the non-principal road network. Footway (Pavement) Condition 23. An increased level of funding for footways has been maintained in recent years with positive results. However, there are large numbers of footways whose condition justifies repair that do not make the programme. Oxford City Centre Improvements 24. Funds have been allocated for high quality improvements in the centre of Oxford for the fourth successive year. These include the installation of natural stone footways in George Street, in High Street and in the vicinity of the Oxford Castle site. Enhancement of the Public Realm is now a key objective and incorporated, subject to Cabinet approval, within County Council policy (Annex 6 - Decluttering Policy and the Public Realm) (download as .doc file). Drainage System Maintenance 25. The budget allocation for programmed drainage improvement works has been increased incrementally from £150k in 2001/02, to £350k in 2006/07, and to £500k in 2007/08 in recognition of public concern over the need to protect highways and property from flooding. 26. An additional £90k has also been allocated to gully cleaning for 2007/08. Considerable work has also gone into a Business Process Review of cyclic maintenance with a view to introducing new working practices during the course of the year. Bridge Strengthening and Structural Maintenance 27. The structural maintenance allocation includes funding for strengthening and structural maintenance of bridges. This includes a significant sum for working with Network Rail to strengthen substandard road over rail bridges. This work is now gaining impetus, and an additional £1.74 million has been allocated to fund the larger programme. 28. Given the difficulties of working on the railway, progress has been good with Oxhey Road Bridge near Cropredy now complete and Goring Station Bridge due to complete in March 2007. Design for the replacement of Lower Heyford Railway Bridge is progressing with construction due to start in January 2008. Design work on Potash Bridge at Milton and Wolvercote (Goose Green) Railway Bridge has started. Temporary weight restrictions are currently in place on all three of these bridges. 29. Structural maintenance and strengthening of County bridges continues with major work on Shillingford Bridge, Old Road Bridge and Bodicote Flyover proposed for 2007/08. Other bridges programmed for strengthening include subways in Carterton, old ironstone railway bridges north of Banbury, and Sonning Eye Bridge. The last remaining substandard bridge on the principal road network is Newbridge carrying the A415 over the River Thames at Standlake. This bridge is scheduled to be replaced in 2010/11. Because strengthening of this bridge is not possible, work has started on identifying options that will preserve the historic structure and provide an alternative crossing. Bridge Condition and Routine Maintenance 30. Bridges in Oxfordshire are in good overall condition, but showing a small year on year deterioration. Approximately £100,000 is spent annually on graffiti removal and painting of subways and bridges. The revenue allocation for routine bridge maintenance remains at a similar level to 2006/07. Allocation of the Available Budget to the Programme 31. The available budget has been prioritised to support the ‘Cleaner/Greener’ agenda and the County Council’s objective to improve the condition of local roads and pavements while at the same time holding the condition of the principal road network at its present level. 32. The use of the available budget can be best summarised as follows: o In recognition of their importance to the County’s overarching transport policies, £200k has been ring-fenced this year for structural repairs on Priority Bus Routes. £100k of this money is being directed to High Street, Oxford and the other £100k to Field Avenue, an unclassified road in the City. o In addition, £2.35m of the highway maintenance budget is being invested in carriageway and footway schemes on Principal Roads in 2007/08. The High Street enhancement works will be part-funded from the Oxford Transport Strategy budget (£539k). Overall, the level of investment in Principal roads is less than in recent years, due to less funding being available. o The Non-Principal Roads schemes budget is set at a similar level to last year in keeping with the strategy to invest a higher proportion of the structural maintenance budget in local roads. o The budget for assessed footway schemes is set at the same amount as last year. Part of the allocation will be used to pay for City Centre Enhancement works. o Additionally, £205k is allocated this year to support Public Rights of Way improvements and for the construction of dropped kerbs and ramps for easier access to footways and crossings. o The Surface Dressing budget has been reduced on paper by £370k because of anticipated cost savings, but the volume of surface dressing completed should actually increase slightly compared with 2006/07. o Additional funds have been directed to grass cutting for 2007/08, as it has not been possible to fully complete the verge maintenance programme in recent years due to cost. o The £300k ‘Cleaner Greener’ funding will be directed to various route treatments and include the cutting back of vegetation around signs, sign cleaning and decluttering, and the completion of a Countywide programme to clean and paint black and white chevron markings on roundabout block paving. o £32k has been set aside in 2007/08 for the removal of noxious and invasive growth such as Ragwort and Japanese knotweed. A further £80k will be used for scrub clearance where woody unkempt growth is threatening to overhang the highway. Although there are insufficient funds to support a formal programme of weed spraying, ad-hoc treatments will be applied at locations where weeds cause particular problems. o The allocation for Village Maintenance gangs has increased by over £1m since 2000/01, with another £220k allocated in 2007/08. o £100k will be spent on improvements to signalised pedestrian crossings that should also result in improvements to BVPI 165, a key indicator. o As in 2006/07, the allocation for Area Traffic Schemes has been reduced to support the investment in highway maintenance. Traffic schemes are now funded principally from LTP and must be justified against LTP objectives. o £30k has been allocated to Network Management, for work specifically related to the Traffic Management Act, including scheme, traffic and utility co-ordination. o £127k has been directed to Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Contract Renewals to identify further opportunities for organisational, contractual and procedural reform, and improved efficiency. 33. The highlighted increases in budget allocations have been realised through an increasingly pro-active approach to asset management that has enabled funds to be directed to better effect. The amounts allocated within the 2006/07 highway maintenance budget have been re-aligned to reflect this Oxford City Section 42 Submission and Allocation 34. Oxford City Council continues to claim its right under Section 42 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the unclassified roads in Oxford. Section 42 requires the City Council to submit by 15 December an estimate of maintenance works costs for the following financial year. The County Council may approve the estimate as submitted or with modifications. 35. The City Council has submitted an estimate as required and this is shown in column A of Annex 3. (download as .doc file) The estimate includes the cost of repairs to all defects noted on the City’s entire unclassified road network and is the equivalent within Oxford of the total backlog for the County as a whole. The recommended modified estimate is shown in Column B. The mowbdified estimate carries on the methodology that is based on a proportionate share of relevant 2007/08 County Council allocations. The modified estimates for assessed carriageway and footway schemes are the totals of schemes in Oxford City that have been through the same rating process as all other similar schemes in the County. 36. £25k has been deducted from the City’s General/Structural allocation, as a proportionate contribution of the £325,000 Efficiency Savings reduction on the County Council Highway Maintenance base budget for 2007/08. 37. Under the Section 42 arrangements, the District Council takes on responsibility for maintenance of unclassified roads in the City, but not the design and implementation of improvement measures. 38. The Assessed schemes allocation has been adjusted this year to take account of work that was carried out by the County Council for the City Council at Oxford Road, Old Marston. Oxford Road obtained a high enough score to warrant its inclusion in the City’s 2007/08 assessed schemes programme, but by mutual agreement, the work was brought forward into 2006/07 to coordinate it with traffic calming work carried out by the County Council at the same location. 39. £100k has been allocated to the City Council from the Priority Bus Route budget, as ring-fenced funding for structural repairs to Field Avenue. 40. The value of other schemes that qualify for inclusion in the 2007/08 City works programme is £208.1k. The cost of the maintenance works at Oxford Road was £159k. This leaves £49.1k for City Council assessed schemes in 2007/08. 41. Oxford City Council’s Section 42 allocation pays for maintenance work on unclassified roads in the district. Work undertaken on classified roads in the district is paid for by the County Council direct, and includes High Street and St Aldates in 2007/08. Schemes in the previous two years include Abingdon Road, George Street, New Road, Cowley Road, and various locations on the A40 Oxford Ring Road including Cutteslowe, Headington Roundabout and Sandhills. 42. The 2007/08 scheme programme lists are available for inspection in the Members’ Resource Centre. Snow Clearing 43. The County Council has a duty under the Highways Act 1980 to remove snow from the highway. Section 150 (1) states that "if an obstruction arises in a highway from accumulation of snow or from the falling down of banks on the side of the highway, or from any other cause, the highway authority shall remove the obstruction". 44. It is generally accepted that any accumulation of snow which prevents safe or convenient access to any community has to be cleared as quickly as possible in compliance of this duty. 45. There are no funds within the Environment & Economy budgets to clear snow, which could cost in excess of £100,000 per day. However, a "Policy for the Financial Implications of Snow Clearance" was agreed at this meeting in March 2005. It is intended to continue with this protocol to give the Head of Transport a degree of confidence that the main expenditure on snow clearing will be centrally funded. Highway Management Policies 46. Highway Management Policies are reviewed and updated annually. Annex 6 contains a new policy on ‘Decluttering and the Public Realm’. Financial and Staff Implications 47. This report identifies the proposed capital and revenue expenditure for Highway Maintenance in 2007/08. The budget allocations are set to deliver standards of service that meet minimum safety criteria, or affordable levels of amenity. They take account of identified budget pressures, and efficiency savings made through Oxfordshire Highways and Business Process Re-engineering. The bulk of the work will be delivered through Oxfordshire Highways. Large schemes and specialised processes may be externally contracted, depending on the scale and nature of the work. Summary Tables 48. Attached to the report are the following: o Annex 1 contains a breakdown of the Highway Maintenance revenue budget (download as .doc file) o Annex 2 - a summary of the planned expenditure on all Highway Maintenance activities (download as .doc file) o Annex 3 – Oxford City Council Section 42 estimate and recommended modified estimate as explained above. (download as .doc file) o Annex 4 - is a summary of the standards of non-assessed (routine) maintenance activities and budget (download as .doc file) o Annex 5 is a Capital Project Detailed Resource Appraisal for the A420 High Street, Oxford improvements (download as .doc file) o Annex 6 contains new or revised policies for improved highway management (download as .doc file) 49. Lists of the individual schemes included in the programme on the basis of the ratings derived from surveys of each site have been deposited in the Members’ Resource Centre. Separate lists are given for Principal Roads, Non-Principal Roads and Footway schemes. RECOMMENDATION 50. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to: (a) approve the details of the 2007/08 Highway Maintenance programme as set out in Annex 2 subject to confirmation of the capital funding for structural maintenance; (b) approve Oxford City Council’s Section 42 estimate as modified and shown in Column B of Annex 3; (c) approve the Detailed Project Appraisal at Annex 5; and (d) approve the implementation of the Decluttering and the Public Realm Policy in Annex 6. STEVE HOWELL Background papers: Nil. Contact Officer: Kevin Haines, Group Manager (Environment & Economy), Tel 01865 815687 March 2007
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